JustCo, Asia’s leading flexible workspace provider, hosted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other Singapore dignitaries at its first co-working centre in Japan at Tokyo’s Shibuya Hikarie building this afternoon. JustCo shared that, as businesses return to work post-Covid, flexible workspaces like its centre in Shibuya Hikarie will play a critical role in office workers’ new hybrid work arrangements.

Located on the 33rd floor of the popular Shibuya Hikarie building in the heart of Tokyo’s Shibuya district, with direct access to integrated retail and lifestyle amenities and major transportation links, JustCo Shibuya Hikarie has capacity for more than 500 users. Opened less than six months ago, the centre is already almost full, with current occupancy at 80% and rising.

Apart from Shibuya Hikarie, JustCo also recently signed two new centres in premium Grade A buildings as part of its growth strategy in Japan. The two new centres are located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Miraina Tower and Gran Tokyo South Tower and can house about one thousand members together. The centre in Shinjuku Miraina Tower sits on top of the world’s busiest train station, with an estimated 3.6 million commuters passing through daily. Scheduled to open this November, it is also connected to the largest bus terminal in Japan. The other new centre at Gran Tokyo South Tower, to be opened in February 2023, is situated at Tokyo Station, a transport hub with direct bullet train access, linking individuals and companies based in cities outside of Tokyo to the capital city centre.

JustCo Shibuya Hikarie’s opening, and the plan for new JustCo locations in Tokyo, speak to the company’s confidence in Tokyo’s flexible office market. The company is also studying the popularity of small-format flexible offices and work booths in Japan. JustCo believes that Tokyo’s experience with these flexible office alternatives may provide useful lessons to transform workspaces in other Asian urban centres. It is exploring collaboration opportunities

with Japanese small-format flexible office operators, with a view to bringing this type of office solution to other cities.

At Prime Minister Lee’s visit, JustCo also gave the Prime Minister an introduction to its proprietary technology to power flexible workspaces. This includes JustCo’s Switch, a workspace-on-demand technology platform launched in December 2020 that offers over 10,000 desks across 250 JustCo and third-party locations. Switch has already signed up over 60,000 users across Asia.

KONG Wan Sing, Founder and CEO of JustCo, said: “We are extremely grateful to Prime Minister Lee for taking time off his busy schedule to visit JustCo. His visit is a huge morale booster for Singapore companies like JustCo who are seeking to break new ground overseas! Across Asia, we are seeing a “return to office” momentum. However, after over two years of Covid, office workers are not looking to return to workspaces of the past. Demand for flexible workspace and technology that enables “work from anywhere” is growing. We are very excited by these changes and the transformation wave.”